By: Pat Kroken, FACMPE, FRBMA
MSN Director, Education and Corporate Communications
Breast arterial calcifications (BAC) are recognized as incidental findings on mammograms, although the American College of Radiology (ACR) breast imaging guidelines regard BAC reporting as optional. However, a 2024 article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) cites a study linking BAC to an increased risk of cardiovascular events in women. In fact, the study found “women with higher AI-automated BAC scores were nearly three times as likely to die from cardiovascular-related complications, such as acute myocardial infarction, heart failure and stroke.”
The article goes on to state, “It is postulated that BAC represents lifetime exposure to risk factors related to arterial stiffening, which increases the risk of CVD through both coronary and noncoronary mechanisms (i.e., heart failure and stroke).”
A July 2024 HealthImaging article notes, “Many referring providers are unaware of the association between breast arterial calcifications (BAC) and increased cardiovascular risk, though most agree that information regarding the finding should be included in mammography reports.”
The MSN Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) includes a measure added in 2024 to report the presence or absence of Breast Arterial Calcification (BAC)/vascular calcifications during screening mammography in female patients aged 40 and older. The measure explains that “although cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death among women in the United States, there is a lack of effective and efficient screening methods.
The final report should “include a statement of clinical relevance, such as ‘A strong association has been shown between BAC and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or coronary artery disease (CAD), independent of other known risk factors’ OR recommendations for follow-up of BAC/vascular calcifications.”
Prior to joining MSN Healthcare Solutions as Director of Education and Corporate Communications, Pat Kroken had nearly 30 years of experience in radiology management as both a practice manager and consultant to radiology groups, billing companies, software vendors and hospital radiology departments.
Pat has had more than 200 articles published, is a regular contributor to the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) Bulletin and a frequent speaker on practice management topics. She served two terms as President of the RBMA, is Editorial Advisor for the national RBMA publication, The Bulletin, and represented the “business side of radiology” as RBMA Liaison to the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Associated Sciences Consortium for 7 years.
